Sun-Times Springfield bureau chief Dave McKinney resigns

The top statehouse reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times resigned today in the midst of what he said was a struggle over editorial authority at the city's no. 2 paper.

Springfield Bureau Chief Dave McKinney posted his resignation on his website two weeks after he said the paper's management threatened to reassign him because a story he wrote became the target of complaints by Bruce Rauner's Republican gubernatorial campaign. The campaign alleged Mr. McKinney had conflicts of interest because his wife is employed by a media consulting firm that does work for Mr. Rauner's opponent, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn.

“Readers of the Sun-Times need to be able to trust the paper. They need to know a wall exists between owners and the newsroom to preserve the integrity of what is published. A breach in that wall exists at the Sun-Times.”

The resignation follows news last week that Mr. McKinney been sidelined for five days after the Rauner campaign protested a story on a lawsuit by the CEO of a company Mr. Rauner's former firm, Chicago-based GTCR LLC, once owned.

Sun-Times Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Jim Kirk said he regretted Mr. McKinney's resignation, but that Mr. McKinney was wrong in his assessment of who calls the shots at the newspaper.

"It is with reluctance that I accept Dave McKinney's resignation," Mr. Kirk said in a statement. "As recently as this Monday on our Op/Ed page, I stated that Dave is among the best in our profession. I meant it then and I mean it now. The pause we took last week was to ensure there were no conflicts of interest and was taken simply to protect Dave McKinney, the Sun-Times and its readers as we were under attack in a heated political campaign. We came to the right result, found the political attacks against us to be false and we stand by our reporting, our journalists and this great newspaper.

"I disagree with Dave's questioning the integrity of this newspaper and my role as editor and publisher. I call the shots. While I've been here, our ownership and management have never quashed a story and they have always respected the journalistic integrity of this paper."

Mr. Ferro and Wrapports CEO Tim Knight could not immediately be reached for comment.

Former federal prosecutor Patrick Collins said last week that Mr. McKinney had asked him to investigate whether the Rauner campaign tried to interfere with Mr. McKinney's employment at the newspaper.

In his resignation letter, Mr. McKinney also said: "I'm faced with a difficult decision due to the disturbing developments I've experienced in the last two weeks that cannot be reconciled with this newspaper's storied commitment to journalism."